Castro, Kennedy considered to run Democratic comeback campaign

After a nationwide thumping that leaves them with their smallest House minority in over 80 years, Democratic leaders are considering two rising stars in the party — Texas Rep. Joaquin Castro and Massachusetts Rep. Joe Kennedy — to lead a 2016 recovery effort.

Senior Democratic aides say the two have emerged as strong possibilities to take on the role of chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, a critical position tasked with overseeing the party’s political apparatus in the next election. The selection of either man by Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, 74, would be designed to give House Democrats, who lack an obvious path back to power, a badly needed infusion of energy and excitement, not to mention fundraising prowess.

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They’re among roughly a half-dozen Democrats in the mix, a list that includes several longer-serving members who’ve waited years for a shot at the post, including Connecticut Rep. Jim Himes and Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards.

Castro, 40, and his twin brother Julian Castro, the Housing and Urban Development secretary and former San Antonio mayor, are widely seen as the party’s future leaders in Texas. They took their star turn at the 2012 Democratic National Convention, when the Stanford-and-Harvard-educated Joaquin Castro, a former state legislator, introduced his brother, who gave the keynote speech. Julian Castro is one of the highest profile Hispanic figures in the Democratic Party and has been mentioned as a possible 2016 vice presidential pick.

If Kennedy, the 34-year-old grandson of the late Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, were chosen, it would be the second time in just over a decade that a Kennedy has chaired the committee; his cousin, former Rhode Island Rep. Patrick Kennedy, led the DCCC during the 2000 election. In the weeks leading up to the midterms, Joe Kennedy, a Harvard Law-educated former prosecutor, doled out thousands of dollars to candidates. He traveled to Minnesota’s Iron Range to stump for an endangered Democratic congressman, Rick Nolan, who withstood a tough reelection challenge.

The high-wattage Castro and Kennedy surnames would also presumably help with fundraising — perhaps the most important component of the job — at a challenging time to persuade donors to open their wallets, given the long odds of Democrats winning back the House in two years.

The rising intrigue over who will chair the DCCC — a decision that will be made by Pelosi, who is expected to be easily reelected to her post as minority leader — comes one week after Democrats lost at least a dozen seats, more than the upper limit that most handicappers thought possible. Democrats, now out of power for four years, have fallen deeper into the minority than they’ve been since the 1930s.

Some Pelosi allies say she may favor a big name figure to give the party a boost, just as she did after the 2004 election when she installed a tenacious Illinois congressman and former Clinton White House adviser named Rahm Emanuel to the DCCC chairmanship. Under Emanuel’s leadership, Democrats would reclaim the majority for the first time since 1994.

A Pelosi spokesman, Drew Hammill, declined to comment on the deliberations.

While Castro and Kennedy have obvious assets, they also have drawbacks. Castro, Democratic aides say, may be more interested in positioning himself for an eventual statewide campaign than immersing himself in the minutiae of congressional politics. And while many are talking up Kennedy, one of the youngest House Democrats, as a future leader, that time may not be now.

Tapping either could also ruffle the feathers of more senior lawmakers who’ve been eyeing the slot. Castro and Kennedy, who were reelected last week, are only finishing their first terms.

Castro’s aides did not respond to several requests for comment; the Texas congressman also did not respond to a text message. A Kennedy spokeswoman, Emily Kaufman, would only say that the congressman “is not seeking the chairmanship,” but declined to say whether party leaders had spoken to him about the job.

Pelosi is likely to make the announcement on or around Nov. 18, when party leadership elections are being held. The current DCCC chair, New York Rep. Steve Israel, announced last week that he would not be staying on.

Whoever gets tapped will have one of the hardest jobs in Washington. While Democrats enter the 2016 election with a legitimate shot at retaining the White House and reclaiming control of the just-lost Senate, their odds of regaining power in the House are miniscule. A combination of redistricting and demographic changes have produced a congressional map that favors Republicans, and many political operatives and analysts believe Democrats may not have a realistic chance of winning the majority until the next round of line-drawing in the early 2020s.

Aside from endless hours of fundraising, the eventual chair will have to try and recruit quality candidates who know, in all likelihood, they’d become backbenchers in the minority party. By the same token, the DCCC head will have to persuade incumbents who’ve been waiting years for the party to regain power not to retire.

There are other headaches, including a grueling travel schedule to far-flung congressional districts and constant criticism and second-guessing about how the party devotes its resources.

Over the past week, some Democratic strategists have grumbled about Israel’s decision to spend part of the election year typing up a novel on his iPhone. Elsewhere, some officials aligned with the Congressional Black Caucus have accused the outgoing chairman of not spending enough to protect Rep. Steven Horsford, an African-American lawmaker from the Las Vegas area who lost reelection.

But there are also clear benefits. With few open slots in party leadership and on powerful legislative committees, the post is a rare high-profile post in the minority. And, even if the House majority is out of reach in 2016, many Democrats are optimistic they’ll at least be able to cut into the GOP’s numbers.

“Running the DCCC can be a thankless and backbreaking job, but for the right person it can also be a huge opportunity. The 2016 cycle has the added dynamic of a presidential campaign, a national convention, and legitimate reason to believe that House Democrats will have the wind at their back,” said C.R. Wooters, a Democratic strategist and former House leadership aide. “With that as a backdrop, there is a huge opportunity for someone new to win some seats while raising their profile within the caucus and nationally.”

Until now, most of the speculation for the DCCC job has centered on four members: Himes, Edwards, Florida Rep. Lois Frankel, and Colorado Rep. Jared Polis. All have been active with the organization and have been aggressive about seeking out the post. On Friday, Pelosi huddled in the capitol with Edwards, who had requested a meeting with Pelosi to discuss the job, according to a source.

A sleeper choice, aides say, might be New Mexico Rep. Ben Ray Lujan, who’s been active in fundraising for Hispanic Democrats in the House.

For others, though, there’s simply little appetite for the job.

Since last week’s election, some aides have discussed Rep. Chellie Pingree, who is married to wealthy financier and Democratic fundraiser Donald Sussman, as a possible chair. But a Pingree spokesman, Willy Ritch, said she didn’t have any interest in the post and hadn’t spoken to Pelosi about it.